SEF boss leaving for six-day China trip

Staff writer, with CNA, SHANGHAI

Tue, Dec 11, 2012 - Page 3

Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) is starting a six-day visit to China today, his second such trip since he took over as Taipei’s top negotiator with Beijing in late September.

Lin’s itinerary covers about 20 stops and includes cultural events, meetings with China-based Taiwanese entrepreneurs and expatriates, and visits to major Taiwanese-owned companies and schools for Taiwanese children, sources familiar with cross-strait affairs said.

Lin and his delegation will first visit Nanjing, where they will attend a seminar with Taiwanese business executives, the sources said.

They will also visit Kunshan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen, where there are large concentrations of Taiwanese businesspeople and expatriates, the sources said.

In Shanghai, Lin will attend the anniversary celebrations of a Taiwanese business association and the opening of a cultural education hall at Shanghai Taiwanese Children School.

Tsai Ti-kuan (蔡隸關), a department chief in charge of the Shanghai school’s student recruitment affairs, said there are currently only three schools for Taiwanese children in China.

The Shanghai school has students from many major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Tianjin, Tsai said, adding that many of its students would return to Taiwan to attend college or university after graduation.

“We hope Lin will help push the government to offer incentives to encourage more of our students to go back to Taiwan for college education,” Tsai said.

The two other schools for Taiwanese children are in Kunshan and Dongguan.

On his first trip to China as SEF boss in October, Lin met with senior Chinese officials in charge of cross-strait affairs and reached consensus with them on many matters of mutual concern, including offering better services to Taiwanese businesspeople and expatriates and vice versa.

During this trip, Taiwanese businesspeople will reportedly bring up the issue of inadequate cross-strait flight services.